The ease of filling, transferring, cleaning, inspecting, and storing buckets made me switch from better bottles long ago. The only thing I lost was the ability to watch the active fermentation through the side of the fermentor, but, even that becomes a plus, since there's no way for skunking to occur.

At least once a week I read something on the Forum that makes me literally laugh out loud. I'm working today and feeling a wee tired, so this was perfect for restoring my mojo.

I went from buckets to Better Bottles but am planning to go back to buckets. Unless I decide to move into our garage I will continue to miss most of the fermentation excitement--about the only reason I can think to use a carboy. I am considering adapting 5-gallon food-safe buckets as fermenters for my 3-gallon batches--take up less space, have less head space. http://www.bayteccontainers.com/5-gallon-plastic-buckets.html

I use brew haulers for my carboys. Besides being easier to carry, they also mean that I can hold the carboy away from my body and lower to the ground. If it does break, it is not as close to my vital organs.

I use brew haulers for my carboys. Besides being easier to carry, they also mean that I can hold the carboy away from my body and lower to the ground. If it does break, it is not as close to my vital organs.

In this case, I was being lazy pouring out the carboy into a floor drain. I knew I was being stupid as I did it, and cracked the neck. No major eruption of glass, but my three year-old was near by which made me really worried.

I use brew haulers for my carboys. Besides being easier to carry, they also mean that I can hold the carboy away from my body and lower to the ground. If it does break, it is not as close to my vital organs.

In this case, I was being lazy pouring out the carboy into a floor drain. I knew I was being stupid as I did it, and cracked the neck. No major eruption of glass, but my three year-old was near by which made me really worried.

Just curious Joe, were you using a carboy handle? Wondering what you attribute the failure to. I'm very cautious with our glass and I get really nervous when my girlfriend is working with. But alas, old habits.